Chapter Text
-This isn’t my pillow.-
-These aren’t my blankets.-
-The smells are all wrong. The sounds are all wrong. The lights are all wrong. But this is all I have now…-
Scrunched up on a couch that could only dream of one day being big enough to be called a loveseat, Stolas lay with his eyes closed, not moving, trying to will himself back to sleep. But racing thoughts and a racing heartbeat made that far from likely.
-Blitz and Luna are both night owls. Oh, the irony of that phrase. Stella was always so fussy about keeping to an early schedule, where these two are lucky if they’re up by 9 am on a workday. And the weekends? Forget it, maybe by noon. To be honest it’s probably for the best. Anytime anyone has had expectations of me it’s turned out disastrously for both of us…-
His train of thought derailed quite soundly when the racket of Blitz’s alarm, the first 10 seconds of “The Final Countdown”, was blessedly silenced with much scuffling and cursing. The seconds ticked by with Stolas waiting to see if Blitz would get up and around enough that he wouldn’t be able to ignore the world any longer. The soft swish of the door on the old area rug and the even softer brush of footsteps as they slowly approached added to the pressure Stolas felt to open his eyes. He feigned sleep, slowing his breathing and evening out his expression.
-How many times did I feign sleep to avoid confrontations with Stella? Even when I’m safe, and no one wants anything from me except my company, I still can’t bring myself to intentionally let him see how little rest I'm getting, how little I want to eat. Why can’t I just get a grip.-
Blitz stopped next to the couch, clearly just checking on him before he went over to start a pot of coffee.
-He’s been so kind. I still can’t believe he’s carved out a place in his home, his business, Satan knows, his budget for me. I don’t even know how to talk about it, much less repay him. I can’t imagine being alone through this.- His neck feathers shifted as he fluffed up with discomfort at the thought. -I’d be dead. Andrealphus would have snapped me up and snipped me in half, the bastard. But it’s so confusing seeing him step up to dote on me as I get my feet back under myself again. I would have killed for this three weeks ago, and now I have no idea how to navigate any of it.-
His brooding easily distracted him enough that he missed the sound of Blitz coming back to kneel next to him, setting down a mug on the coffee table, and reaching out to tuck some feathers back into place between his two sets of eyes, creased with worry.
“Stols…” Stolas’ eyes snapped open with a bit of surprise that wilted quickly with exhaustion. “…hey, brought you some brew to help you up this morning.” Blitz’s bright, hopeful eyes met his for a moment before he looked over at the mug sporting the words “Sheep go to Heaven, Goats go to Hell”. He was smiling warmly as he glanced back to his housemate’s face, a smile that Stolas attempted to echo on his own.
-It’s not his fault that you’re a broken mess. He doesn’t deserve to have someone crush his happiness so early. Don’t be more of a burden than you already are.- Sitting up, he adjusted the tank top straps, pulled it back down over his stomach feathers, and shifted so that he could pull his legs up beside himself on the cushions.
“Thank you, Blitz. That was very sweet of you.” Stolas reached out an elegant, slender hand to delicately take the cup. Blitz quickly offered it up, his smile brightening to a toothy grin at the positive reply. A creaking door hinge had both of their focuses swinging over to Loona as she stumbled out of her room and over towards the bathroom.
“I swear that thing screeches louder than the Bezekiras upstairs…” Loona grumbled, her ears laid back in displeasure as she went.
“Loony! Made some coffee if you want it. And I was thinking of chocolate chip pancakes…what do you say!” Blitz beamed at her with all the joy a doting father could muster. Stolas’ heart skipped a beat and cracked at the same time.
-I used to have stuffed rats with Via on the mornings Stella was out of town…before I lit everything I loved on fire and got myself banished from my own beautiful girl. Aaaaand, there goes that tiny spark of joy. Well done Stolas. As if your mind wasn’t enough of a snare of thorns. Go ahead and cast shadows on all the good memories as well.-
Completely oblivious to Stolas' struggle, Loona’s ears pricked up and she paused a second at the words “chocolate” and “pancakes”. She stopped just as she was about to close the bathroom door. “Yeah, sure, I guess...” She said nonchalantly right before the latch clicked, and running water sounds started up.
Blitz looked back at Stolas still beaming. “What about you? I know you had all those fancy chef people at your place, but they probably never made pancakes like mine.” He got to his feet, now tall enough to look Stolas in the eyes as he sat on the couch. Looking closer, he could see how tired he was, as he got his answer.
“I don’t know that I’ve had anything even like pancakes since I was a child. I can’t honestly say I recall their taste. Though I do very much like chocolate.”
-We shall have to see if my stomach will settle enough to enjoy it-
“You just keep sitting on that fine feathered ass of yours, and I’ll have some whipped right up!” Blitz hopped up doing his best to carry the mood as he popped around the kitchen getting ingredients. The last of which was the chocolate chips that had been intentionally stashed away in the back of a top cabinet for safekeeping. Stolas watched him for a moment as he stretched and scrabbled before standing (being wary of the ceiling fan that he had found with his face more times than not) and walking over to easily pluck the bag out of its hiding place. Blitz stilled his flailing once he realized Stolas stood over him as he collected and offered him his key ingredient. Blitz’s cheeks heated. He took the bag to set it with the rest, and mumbled an embarrassed, “Thanks…” as he busied himself measuring out the flour.
Of course he dumped it into the bowl too quickly and ended up with a cloud of white covering his whole face. This just served to make him blush a deeper red that could even be seen through the fine powder. Stolas couldn’t help a small giggle that bubbled up out of him. Quickly, he covered his mouth with his hand to hide it.
“Are you sure you’re licensed to operate this…” He gestured at the bowl, spoon, and whisk impishly. “…this, sophisticated technology, my dear?”
“Hey, asshole, I’m a good cook, thank you very much. And if you keep this up, maybe I won’t let you have any of my famous pancakes!” Blitz huffed as he wiped his face on the front of his shirt. He started back up measuring and mixing, refusing to make eye contact as his blush slowly faded.
Thirty minutes, a small kitchen fire, and a lot of expletives later there was a perfect platter of chocolate chip pancakes waiting on the kitchen table. Loona was now in all her snarky glory as she grabbed a couple for herself, the boys letting her go first. The bottom one was shaped like a unicorn, according to Blitz and Blitz alone. Loona being sure to loudly draw some not-so-vague parallels between a melting tire with legs and Blitz’s “unicorn pancake”.
For all his mind’s attempts to sour everything, Stolas was enjoying himself. Blitz and Loona had a very different relationship dynamic than he’d ever seen between a parent and a child, but it was obvious how much they cared for each other.
-Satan’s horns, he’s so proud. He’s certainly never has lacked for enthusiasm…in anything…- Stolas looked down at his plate having eaten what little he could stomach, and pushing the rest around to make it look like less. -Maybe once I get my head on straight…no, not straight...- Stolas tittered to himself at the double entendre. -Hellishness, his humor's rubbing off on me...rubbing...oy there my mind goes again...- Still more giggles followed the thought.
"Stolas, I will absolutely kick your fucking tail feathers to Heaven and back if that laugh was about my perfect unicorn pancake!" Blitz snapped, turning his mostly-mock-offended wrath from a cackling Loona to a now furiously blushing Stolas. Stolas' own sheepish smile only serving to egg him on further.
As they all finished their breakfast Loona got up to put away the rest of the food and clean up the kitchen. Blitz would hear nothing of it, shushling her back towards her room to get dressed. Stolas looked on with a bit of brightness behind his eyes for getting to be a part of their world.
Pulling on some of the clothing that Blitz had gotten for him in the bathroom (‘gotten’ being a very loose term in this case) he had a moment where he had to grab for the sink to steady himself. It passed quickly, but left him feeling off and a little irritable as they all piled in the van. Loona shouted shotgun, diving for the passenger door the second they got outside. Not having a clue, Stolas just watched her curiously and took his spot in the middle seats, looking out the window and watched the progressively more familiar scenery go by.
The ride to work was mostly Loona and Blitz arguing over whether the driver or the copilot had first rights to choose the music. It wasn’t a very long trip, and after his first day at IMP, Stolas usually drifted into his own thoughts, only coming back up if the shouting sounded actually angry, Blitz did an excessively illegal maneuver with the van, or if a song came up that he quietly thought that he quite enjoyed. Blitz won DJ rights after the third ‘break check' nearly had everyone in the car thrown onto the dash.
-Who knew there could be so many creative ways to describe whores? That's going right into the book for later...and I thought I was creative...- Stolas mused, smiling to himself as they neared the office.